The Storm's Betrayal

One of the best kinds of sequels- a book that expands and deepens on the characters and plot introduced by its predecessor and left me at the ending going 'no ait- and then what happened?'. It was great to meet Celka, Filip and Gerrit again and see how their actions at the end of the first book plunged them into a world that was darker and more political, as most of the events of this instalment are set in the Bourshkanyan military.

I found that the concept of 'sousednia' and storm-magic was much easier to understand this time around, and thought taking it forward into new ways of using that power was an interesting and natural progression from what we'd seen in the first book. I liked how Celka was developing- but some of the plot beats with Gerrit, while understandable, sometimes seemed like a bit too much, or too sudden (I won't elaborate here for concern of spoilers!).

Overall though, I really enjoyed this book and can't wait for the next instalment.

I really enjoyed returning to this Soviet-inspired world of storm magic, as stakes rise and loyalties are tested.

There is a reason I always try to re-read books before reading the next instalment. My memory is an absolute sieve for details, both big and small. (I made dinner between finishing the book and writing the review, and in that time forgot Gerrit was not Garrit!) Unfortunately, I didn't have the option to re-read WEAVE THE LIGHTNING before diving into this book, but I managed alright. THE STORM'S BETRAYAL does a good job of including the relevant details of the previous book when they're needed so I didn't feel completely adrift. By the end of the book, I think I'd more or less pieced together the first book.

I checked back on my review of WEAVE THE LIGHTNING, to see if that would give me any hints as to the plot (NOPE, well done, past Sifa), but I noticed that I'd commented on being confused about the magic and some action scenes last time around. That problem did not crop up this time. For one, Celka is being formally taught in this book, so we the reader get that grounding in theory too. This helped with the action sequences too.

Gerrit and Filip were my favourite characters in this book. I think only Gerrit and Celka were POVs in the previous book, but Filip's POV stole a lot of my attention. I like characters with a big internal struggle between the path their on and their morals, so naturally I preferred the two boys over Celka in this one. Filip starts off in the loyal soldier mentality and has to fight that, and Gerrit starts off the rebellious son of the leader.

Gerrit was definitely my favourite. I loved how his actions and perspective shifted as he tried to protect himself and give himself the tools to carry on without revealing his secrets. Basically, I love a good tragedy, and then I loved how he semi-pulled out of it by the ending, but it had altered his direction and beliefs. That's about as much as I can say without giving away too many spoilers, but it was so compelling.

There is one more book to come, and fingers crossed it's out next year so I can find out how it all ends.